matomo
Port du Bonhomme la Guérinière ©Quentin Boulegon

The Bonhomme oyster port MEET THE FARMERS OF THE SEA

Dawn barely breaks before the slipway at Bonhomme Port begins to hum with the coming and going of tractors hauling flat-bottomed boats to the oyster farms just uncovered by the tide. Despite its unbeatable view of the town of Noirmoutier-en-l’Île, this miniature port on Bourgneuf Bay, would almost go unnoticed if it weren’t the island’s main oyster port.

AN OYSTER PORT

The Bonhomme oyster port is located on Bourgneuf Bay in La Guérinière. This is the narrowest part of Noirmoutier Island: just 500 metres separate Bourgneuf Bay from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Bonhomme Port comprises a handful of oyster huts, some of which have become retail and tasting spaces, a slipway to the sea, and a cycling trail along the dyke, all of which is punctuated by the comings and goings of flat-bottomed boats called plates or lasses. This site only contains a small portion of the island’s oyster and mussel farmers; many other “huts” have been built in the polder.

 

In particular, this port gives professionals access to their oyster beds in Bourgneuf Bay. At high tide, you’ll have to imagine these underwater fields: countless rows of beds where bags containing oysters at different stages of maturity are arrayed. The slipway is strictly reserved for use by professionals, but if you climb to the top of the dyke, you can enjoy a lovely view of the entrance to Noirmoutier Port, the château and the church and, father to the north, the Plage des Sableaux beach dotted with beach huts. Lastly, straight ahead, you can spot the Dames Lighthouse which towers above the edges of the Bois de la Chaise wood.

Cabanes ostréicoles port du Bonhomme - Quentin Boulegon

Port du Bonhomme - Quentin Boulegon

Parcs à huîtres port du Bonhomme - Quentin Boulegon

OYSTER FARMING...

Oyster farmers access their beds on lasses, flat-bottomed boats that are towed to the edge of the water. They regularly shake the bags of oysters, flipping them over to ensure even growth.

 

When the oysters become too cramped, they bring them back to land, to sort and separate them. They then put them in bags with wider mesh, this time with fewer oysters per bag.

 

They finish growing in fattening ponds full of seawater where their flesh plumps up, their taste becomes more refined, and they sometimes take on an emerald green hue thanks to microscopic algae.

 

It takes almost three years of work for an oyster to reach full maturity.

 

the island's cooperative of oyster farmers

Moules - Trendz

... AND MUSSEL FARMING

The famous bouchot mussels are also produced off the coast of Noirmoutier Island, on both the Atlantic and Bourgneuf Bay sides.

The mussel spat (spawn) is collected on lines near the coast in the early springtime.

 

They are then arranged on wooden frames through the end of the summer.

 

In September, the lines are rolled into spirals on piles embedded in the sea, called “bouchots”. The mussels then grow all winter and the following spring.

 

They are harvested mechanically, using a sort of tube called a “sock” which is attached to the boat and lowered down along the bouchot.

TIPS FOR PREPARING AND ENJOYING OYSTERS

Like with wine, oysters will be different from one year to the next. For example, the taste of iodine may be lessened by heavy rainfall. To take full advantage of their flavour, they should be opened an hour before eating and drained of the “first water” in the shell. The oysters will later release a second, less overpowering water. To retain their full delicacy, don’t place them in the refrigerator or on a bed of ice.

 

the island's oyster huts

savor our oysters at a restaurants

Plateau huîtres île de Noirmoutier ©Trendz

Noirmoutier Island's oysters - Trendz

Vue panoramique parcs à huîtres port du Bonhomme ©Quentin Boulegon

Oyster farms ©Quentin Boulegon

BONHOMME OYSTER PORT IN PICTURES

Loin des yeux
près du cœur

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